23
The Night Jhavon died...continued
Sean slid on a pair of sneakers and readied himself to join Jhavon on the other side of the window, when Pop opened Sean’s bedroom door and switched on the light.
“What the—” Pop’s mouth hung open.
Sean swung around to face his father. Jhavon ducked from sight but not before Pop saw him.
“I knew it.” Pop snarled, bunching his fists. “Youaregay. Sneaking that boy in your room.” He made his way toward Sean with fire in his eyes. “That’s sick. Disgusting.” He struck Sean hard in his face.
“No. No,” Jhavon yelled, “Mr. Morr—”
“Get off my property before I put a bullet—”
“Jhavon, go,” Sean called. “Don’t worry about me, just go.”
Sean watched his friend scramble away and felt a sense of relief. At least they would be off the hook with Flip. He squared his shoulders, preparing himself to face his father, feeling a sense of relief that they would both be off the hook with Flip. Sean was in for another fight with his dad, but at least they weren’t going to be killed.
Over the years, the fights with his father had gotten better, if that’s what one could call it. Back when he was twelve and Pop had beat him badly, he had almost flunked seventh grade for missing too many days of school. Now that Sean was almost an adult, he could hold his own and keep his father from pulverizing him, putting him in a sleep hold, or giving him a swollen eye.
But tonight was different. The rage at the very idea that Sean was gay and that he and Jhavon had been hiding it in plain sight seemed to give Sean’s father another source of energy.
Kicks, blows, and hits came fast and furious, along with cursing and vulgarities. Sean knew he had to stop fighting fair if he wanted to help Jhavon. He picked up a chair and slammed it across his father’s back. Pop dropped to the floor and Sean propelled toward the door. But Pop grabbed him by the leg, causing Sean to trip and fall.
That’s when Sean went limp. His eyes went wide and he forgot to breathe. There were two
bundles of money under the bed. How could this have happened? How did the money come out of the bag? His heart beat at the speed of a departing train. Was it when he’d thrown it under the bed? Or when he snatched it to throw it out the window?
Sean punched the floor. He had to catch Jhavon before he got to Flip and gave him the bag that did not contain all of his money.
Springing into action, Sean tried to grab the money. Just when it was within reach, he experienced an explosion at the back of his head. Sean staggered from the impact, grabbing his head. His dad had hit him with something. It took him a minute to stand but his arms felt wooden, and his legs wobbled.
“Son, I’ll take you out of this world before I watch you destroy our family name,” Pop fussed. “You’re aman.”
Sean tried to speak, but the words he spoke hurt his ears. “You don’t understand.”
“You’re right. I don’t understand you people. Just be whatGodmade you to be.”
Hearing any reference to God coming from such a vile person made Sean nauseous. Or maybe it was the hit to his head. He raced to the toilet and upchucked his stomach contents.
“That’s right,” Pop said from behind him. “Puke it all up. And go to bed. Wake up in the morning aman.” With a maniacal laugh, Pop went back to his room.
Stomach empty, Sean gripped the bowl until he was able to stand. He splashed his face with water and blinked, praying the room would stop spinning.
He closed his eyes. “God, help me,” he begged, though he had no relationship with God whatsoever.
Yet God must have listened because when he opened his eyes, the room was still.
Sean crawled under his bed and got the money. The time on his clock was 11:58 p.m. He dove through the window and took off running as fast as he could to Crowley’s. Halfway there, Sean had to slow his pace. His eye was swollen shut and his leg throbbed. The adrenaline had worn off and he was aware of every bruise and every chipped bone in his body.
Sean pressed on despite the pain and the near blindness.
But he was too late.
